GLENDALE, Ariz.—It’s 106 degrees outside as I type this, which doesn’t matter much since the Cardinals hold their training camp inside State Farm Stadium. Here are our takeaways from the game field in the Phoenix suburbs …
• There’s a ton of excitement on where Kyler Murray is going into his sixth season, and second under the direction of Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon. Whether perception matched reality or not, the noise around Murray before Gannon and his staff arrived here 18 months ago wasn’t good. And there’s a reason you haven’t heard much of that since. Murray’s been a model teammate—a constant presence in the offseason program, and organizing player trips for work (to Los Angeles to throw this summer) and pleasure (to Oklahoma City for a Mavericks-Thunder playoff game)—and worker under the new regime. Murray played well last year, and that was coming off a torn ACL that cost him all of the offseason, camp and half the regular season. Now, he’s full steam ahead in his second year in OC Drew Petzing’s offense, and he has a better group around him, and this should be fun to watch.
• There’ll be a lot of turnover on defense, and that’s why—as the team has infused a ton of young guys through two outsized draft classes (11 picks in 2023, 13 picks in ‘24)—getting the right veterans in the fold has been an emphasis. That’s where the acquisitions of linemen Bilal Nichols and Justin Jones, linebacker Mack Wilson and corner Sean Murphy-Bunting have been huge. Not only can those guys play, but they’ll join guys already on hand such as Kyzir White, Budda Baker and Jalen Thompson, who will help Darius Robinson, Max Melton and BJ Ojulari get going. Both Gannon and GM Monti Ossenfort have put a premium on football character early on in their time, and the hope is that’ll show up in the defense’s development.
• One name I wouldn’t sleep on offensively would be Michael Wilson, who already looks like a seasoned pro coming off a promising rookie year—reminding some on a staff full of guys who once coached in Minnesota a little bit of Adam Thielen in that he’s big, smart and consistent. Add him to slot receiver Greg Dortsch, a small jitterbug type who has the feel and burst to excel inside, and Arizona feels pretty good about what it’s putting around Marvin Harrison Jr., who looked, well, exactly how you’d expect him to look on the afternoon I spent out there. And while we’re here, it’s also worth mentioning that this is another position group where the Cardinals added a couple of savvy vets in Zay Jones and Chris Moore to backstop the young guys.
• Want another one of those? James Conner’s been a pretty important piece in bringing rookie Trey Benson along at tailback, even if he knows there’s a decent chance he’s preparing the third-round pick to start eating into his workload. Again, it feels like there’s a pretty good young-old dynamic in that locker room.
• With all the youth here, there will be plenty of jockeying within position groups, and perhaps the most important one for the team to sort out will be at corner. Melton has shown he has the tools to be a really good NFL player, with his edge, quickness and ability to adapt to whatever’s around him. Murphy-Bunting gives the Cardinals an experienced hand. Garrett Williams, a 2023 third-rounder, played a bunch as a rookie. And from there, there’s a crowd of guys in the mix, with three second-year corners—former sixth-rounder Kei’Trel Clark, undrafted free agent waiver claim Starling Thomas V and Divaad Wilson all flashing and competing for snaps. It’s hard to say who’ll be out there for the opener, and the hope is that’ll bring out the best in all of these guys over the next month.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Cardinals Training Camp Takeaways: Kyler Murray Has Quieted the Criticism.
